14 Great Ways To Use Google Apps While Attending The #ISTE Conference This Year
It's that time of year again where everyone packs their classrooms and heads for the annual ISTE conference. Making sure you have everything you need can be a very difficult task. Making sure you survive the quickest and most exciting 3 days of the calendar year isn't easy, but luckily there are several ways that we can use Google Apps for Education to our advantage. Here are some of our favorites.
Google Drive/Folders
- Create a folder for everything ISTE. If you have a team going, everything can go into a shared folder for greater learning and organization.
- Color code your folders so you can find them easier while running around the convention
Google Docs
- Create a group Google Doc for the Ultimate Backchannel. Make it available to everyone on Twitter.
- Keep track of contacts, locations, and events using Docs
Google Sheets
- Setup IfThisThenThat to take all of your new Twitter followers and save them to a spreadsheet
Google Slides
- All of your presentations should be on Google Slides since you won’t have time to plug in your own computer.
- Make your slides sharing settings “open for the world” and then create a Google short link. This way you don’t have to take time to log in to your account while everyone is waiting for you.
Google Calendar
- Create a new calendar IN EASTERN TIME and make sure all of your events and appointments are being put into your calendar in EASTERN TIME… this way when you get to ISTE all of your events aren’t off by an hour or more.
- Share your calendar with another so you can keep track of friends and colleagues.
- When sharing calendars, add an open Google Doc with the attachment so everyone can use the doc for sharing ideas, and resources.
Google Spaces
- Create a personalized Google Space with your friends to have an organized conversation when you are not near each other
- Share photos and documents quickly and easily within your group
Google Voice
- Setup a Google Voice number that you will give out to vendors so your personal phone does not get spammed after the conference with marketing phone calls.
Google Photos
- Adjust your Google Photos settings to auto backup AND pull your photos from your camera. This way you will never run out of hard drive space on your phone.
- Create shareable albums that can be pre-populated as you take photos
- Take Lots and Lots of photos and videos to share in posts and podcasts
- Take a photo of all of your business cards so you don't have to worry about losing them.
Google Chrome
- If you are presenting off of your account, put all of the websites you need into one bookmarked folder so during the presentation, you can simply open the folder and all of your tabs come back to life.
Google Maps
- Create an interactive walking map of the events you will be attending at ISTE. Use it to help track your travel time
- Use Google maps to send directions to your location, send an estimated time of arrival, and ping your location to friends!
Google Drawings
- Create an awesome logo that could become your twitter avatar or something awesome to attach to each blog post you write about ISTE
Google Sites
- Create a google site with pre-embedded Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Google Photos Albums… share the site with your friends and family and tell them that as you add things to your Google portfolio, the website will fill up with edu-goodies. When you get back home after the conference, your ISTE portfolio will already be finished and waiting for you.
Hangouts
- Using Hangouts on Air can be a great way to video conference with those at the conference and beyond.
- Presenting with someone who can’t attend? Use GHO to allow them to present from afar.
Google Forms
- Are you looking to quickly remember the contact information for EVERYONE that you meet? Quickly create a simple Google Form and stick add it to the home screen of your phone and instead of coming home with a million business cards, simply enter the information you want into your Google Form right there on the convention floor.
Obviously, this list is far from perfect and far from being complete. If you have other ways that you enjoy using Google Apps to help you organize your conference, please share them in the comments section below.
We are looking forward to seeing you this year at the ISTE conference! Check out our complete coverage of this years ISTE Conference along with our coverage of past years conferences here on our TeacherCast ISTE Conference homepage.
About the author, Jeffrey Bradbury
Jeff Bradbury, creator of TeacherCast, and father of the famous @EduTriplets Thanks for checking out TeacherCast today. Please take a moment to find me on all of my Social Media channels!